IceForce:It gets brought up constantly because gamergate's presence on this site, and this site's steady decline, coincide with one another. So naturally people are going to make the connection and lay blame.

Thanks for letting us know. I suppose I knew it was inevitable once the non-yahtzee video creators left. I had a lot of fun on this site over the years, and I'm going to miss it once those volunteer efforts run out.

Steve the Pocket:To anyone who didn't get a free pub-club upgrade, are the "spot check" captchas gone too?

I've seen them in the rare times I post more than twice in a single day, usually on the 3rd post.

---------------------

This thread has been a hell of a nostalgia trip for me, seeing a lot of names I recognise from ye olden days. Sometimes I wish I could remember my account from back then but, eh, not having the baggage is kinda nice.

I've kind of liked the idea of trying to do a written article or something. I don't think that it'd end up being a regular thing, since I'm at college and I don't think I have the time to do regular articles (on top of the fact that I think I'd run out of things to talk about after a short while), but it would be interesting to throw something out there and see what people think of it.

I really liked the idea somebody mentioned earlier about doing articles on various technical aspects and rendering techniques used in games from a professional's viewpoint. I personally like the technical stuff, I'm actually working on a Computer Science degree right now to get into the gaming industry as a developer.

I would like to ask, what about articles on events being done elsewhere online? For instance, there are two different sites that I go on regularly: "PureZC" and "Sonic Retro". Both of these sites do special events annually where people show off stuff that they had made. For a couple years, I did a series of videos on reviewing individual entries, breaking things down as professionally as I could, giving both constructive criticism and praising things that I had thought were done well. (If anybody watches MegaGWolf's "Sonic Hack/Fan Showcase" videos, it was something sort of similar.) Would things like this qualify as possible content?

Are you sure about this? Defy may later say since we signed up as users to their site, they own everything we write on here. I wouldn't put it past the assholes. Remember, these are the same people that got on Extra Credits' case for not giving them the excess money from their campaign to fund Allison's surgery. (Or something like that.)

Would be cool if I could submit my reviews here, though they're not always on "new" games so it'd be a dip in the old professional style the Escapist had a while back. For example, I just reviewed Ghost Recon Wildlands which is a few months old. Still, I can't always afford the full 60$ for new releases so it slows me down.

Zydrate:Would be cool if I could submit my reviews here, though they're not always on "new" games so it'd be a dip in the old professional style the Escapist had a while back. For example, I just reviewed Ghost Recon Wildlands which is a few months old. Still, I can't always afford the full 60$ for new releases so it slows me down.

Veldie:I never got a reply or anything said regarding helping to provide content via streaming or producing lets plays as content for the site. Money is no issue to me as I always did it to have fun with others.

I may lurk most times but that happened around the time WW was made and they removed the box with current threads in it but I would like to help keep this site alive. I already lost one site this year and I don't want to loose a 2nd.

Its also pretty cool to see all kinds of older people from back when the site was at its prime here :D

Areloch:So, anyone think they'd be interested if I wrote stuff on how modern game engines and rendering techniques work? Maybe other mechanisms of how game development happens as well?

I work on this stuff basically every day, and I see lots of people wanting to learn how that kinda thing works, so I'm curious if people think that'd be worth doing articles or "articles" on.

My advice to all of you and indeed anyone else with ideas for content floating around their head wondering "Well, do they want this if I write it?" is this:

Get in touch!

On our Submissions Guide and Contact page you can find our new submissions email with a guideline on how to send your content pitch ideas. Everything that comes through will get a look over by either myself or NewClassic or both of us and given we're going for the entirely community-ran angle we're eager for anything that drops in the inbox!

Remember: Pitches should be between 100-200 words, cover roughly what the article or video intends to be, and emails should also contain writer names or preferred pseudonyms, as well as a little bit about the writer.

Yea I think there's a couple of restrictions that I may not be able to meet, which is what I kind of expected. My reviews are very blog-like (you can read them here, though I recommend sorting them from New to Old. My newer stuff is better as I improved over the years). HonestGamers is a pretty small community but I'm not linking them for a user migration - It has problems, notably that the owner of the site seems stuck in 2000 and refuses to evolve and reach outward for a userbase. The discord has four people.

Fact of the matter is, my reviews are more blog-like in quality and that's typically where I post them first.

Still, it does allow for reposts and there's no non-compete. If someone just wants to give some of my stuff a proper editing run then I wouldn't mind, but I've done some research as to why Escapist fell so hard so I might not be so keen to associate myself with it. I'll remain a lurker of the forums but I've said it before; I'm gone when Yahtzee's gone. It's a shame someone 'owns' him.

Zydrate:Yea I think there's a couple of restrictions that I may not be able to meet, which is what I kind of expected. My reviews are very blog-like (you can read them here, though I recommend sorting them from New to Old. My newer stuff is better as I improved over the years). HonestGamers is a pretty small community but I'm not linking them for a user migration - It has problems, notably that the owner of the site seems stuck in 2000 and refuses to evolve and reach outward for a userbase. The discord has four people.

Fact of the matter is, my reviews are more blog-like in quality and that's typically where I post them first.

Still, it does allow for reposts and there's no non-compete. If someone just wants to give some of my stuff a proper editing run then I wouldn't mind, but I've done some research as to why Escapist fell so hard so I might not be so keen to associate myself with it. I'll remain a lurker of the forums but I've said it before; I'm gone when Yahtzee's gone. It's a shame someone 'owns' him.

I've been a user since 2009. Alas.

I had a quick look over some of your most recent reviews - don't see a problem with them personally. You'd definitely get editing runs on it, neither me nor Nuke would put any article up without it running through the editorial wringer. I'd be interested to know what restrictions you think you wouldn't be able to meet?

As for not necessarily being keen to associate with the Escapist, all I can say is fair's fair. We're hoping to dissociate from that image and more people getting involved with good content is pretty much our only way of trying to do that but it's understandable if have reservations and choose not to pitch.

I had a quick look over some of your most recent reviews - don't see a problem with them personally. You'd definitely get editing runs on it, neither me nor Nuke would put any article up without it running through the editorial wringer. I'd be interested to know what restrictions you think you wouldn't be able to meet?

As for not necessarily being keen to associate with the Escapist, all I can say is fair's fair. We're hoping to dissociate from that image and more people getting involved with good content is pretty much our only way of trying to do that but it's understandable if have reservations and choose not to pitch.

Well I do thank you for those kind words :DI do appreciate the mods here much more than some of the users this place has attracted, if that means anything.

I think the "pitch" part would be difficult for me. Most of the time I just... start writing in a Tumblr draft. I do go over and edit them and a word count site helps me find overlong sentences, and I got a guy who looks over my work before submitting to HG though he's not available 75% of the time.As it stands, it would be difficult for me to 'pitch' an article I've already written, edited, and published on two locations before coming here.

The community that grew under her is definitely one of the reasons this site's forum became known as badly as it was.

I don't think we ever really recovered from the kinds of people she brought here, and people still complain about passive-aggression to this day.

Vendor-Lazarus:The "old guard" were the ones who started ruining it.If susan, moviebob and jimsterling bought it and moderated it I would leave in an instant.No Thanks!

100% this. That would be the final nail in the coffin. Especially Bob, he's a fucking lunatic these days.

scorn the biomage:Lets face it we have a bad reputation because the previous owner joined gamer-gate and alt right.

Maybe someone like Movie bob or Feminist Frequency to buying the site and restoring the old guard would improve our reputation and bring back some of the old users. either way water is rising fast and if don't do any thing we will drown.

EscapeGoat:Remember: Pitches should be between 100-200 words, cover roughly what the article or video intends to be, and emails should also contain writer names or preferred pseudonyms, as well as a little bit about the writer.

I assume the latter part wouldn't be needed if someone's already contributed in the past? :D

EscapeGoat:As for not necessarily being keen to associate with the Escapist, all I can say is fair's fair. We're hoping to dissociate from that image and more people getting involved with good content is pretty much our only way of trying to do that but it's understandable if have reservations and choose not to pitch.

Yeah, when things started getting iffy I was thinking of asking Encaen to take my reviews down. Never got around to it because I was hoping to spin them into something that lasted more than 5 minutes. XD

NewClassic:And if they want to review something to which they don't have access--like a game that hasn't been released yet--that pitch gives me the opportunity to reach out and maybe secure a key for them.

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

I think the issue is in establishing who "YOU" refers to here. Sure, the mod team has the blessing of the last relevant staff member to run the place, but it doesn't mean we know or can all agree on what's best for the community long term. We are just mods after all, and previously our job was to champion the status quo, not turn it on its head. That said, I am sure many people would agree with you here (myself included), but the community has become quite small in recent years and going all Sherman's March might just kill off what's left outright.

The mods have been discussing changes to the site (what changes we can actually technically make) and weighing the pros and cons, so it's not like we're not trying to improve things around here. It's definitely a fine line to walk, however, as many longtime users may not be so willing to trust the capabilities or intentions of volunteer moderators. Depending on how things go from her on out, that could of course change.

Shifting gears, do you think you would simply acquire the domain/brand and launch a new site entirely or build off of the existing site?

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

Do you promise to lead us back to the glory days of incendiary, cutting edge pieces such "Barbie is sexist: look at these six Amazon reviews (spoiler alert: I'm going to ignore the positive ones)"?

It's tricky to see how the site imploded when that sort of quality journalism was being offered! :)

Incidentally, I doubt you could give that Bob chap his Big Picture back, I believe he imploded in a cloud of pompous sanctimony live on a video and now just sits quivering in an ice cave, wracked with manufactured guilt that every film doesn't just have an all African, all refugee, all female cast siting in semi-darkness, mumbling in serbo-croat, as tears streak their faces, about the enduring sins of the West and how they must all atone.

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

Do you promise to lead us back to the glory days of incendiary, cutting edge pieces such "Barbie is sexist: look at these six Amazon reviews (spoiler alert: I'm going to ignore the positive ones)"?

It's tricky to see how the site imploded when that sort of quality journalism was being offered! :)

Incidentally, I doubt you could give that Bob chap his Big Picture back, I believe he imploded in a cloud of pompous sanctimony live on a video and now just sits quivering in an ice cave, wracked with manufactured guilt that every film doesn't just have an all African, all refugee, all female cast siting in semi-darkness, mumbling in serbo-croat, as tears streak their faces, about the enduring sins of the West and how they must all atone.

Unskippable was funny though.

Gosh, you're edgy.

I haven't been here since 2013, mate, so that Barbie shite wasn't on my watch.

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

I think the issue is in establishing who "YOU" refers to here. Sure, the mod team has the blessing of the last relevant staff member to run the place, but it doesn't mean we know or can all agree on what's best for the community long term. We are just mods after all, and previously our job was to champion the status quo, not turn it on its head. That said, I am sure many people would agree with you here (myself included), but the community has become quite small in recent years and going all Sherman's March might just kill off what's left outright.

The mods have been discussing changes to the site (what changes we can actually technically make) and weighing the pros and cons, so it's not like we're not trying to improve things around here. It's definitely a fine line to walk, however, as many longtime users may not be so willing to trust the capabilities or intentions of volunteer moderators. Depending on how things go from her on out, that could of course change.

Shifting gears, do you think you would simply acquire the domain/brand and launch a new site entirely or build off of the existing site?

Do you see value in having 10 members if 8 of them are shitty? 'cause I don't. I mean, I get what you're saying, but I think there are some pretty easy choices you could be making.

Well, pooh... Although reading through this thread is kind of uplifting. I like you guys. You're like family. I mean not my family, but I've watched you guys interact for a long time. Some of you bicker like brothers and sisters... husband and wives... old curmudgeonly ones, at that. It's beautiful and consistent. I like that I know what kinds of reactions that I can expect from a B-Cell hype thread. I also enjoy the certainty that at the end of a ParagonFury thread I'll find something tastelessly crass, but he's been so consistent with it for so long that it's pretty much reached running joke status with me. I could go on and on but the fact remains that I love this community FOR it's faults, not despite them... I'm a little ashamed of how cliche that sounded.

Either way, I'll echo a similar sentiment as a lot of you. I'll be hear until the lights go out, infrequently posting but mostly lurking just the same.

In some ways, too much. In others, not enough.Sooo, I'll just ask: how serious was your talk about buying the site?

Quite serious.

I mean, let's get real. It wouldn't make money. Running a web site that turns a profit requires a lot of resources, and there's just no real point in attempting that with a gaming site in this current financial environment. So it would be something done out of love for the creators and the community, nothing more.

To that end, what I'd want to do first is return all the brands to their creators. LRR would own Unskippable again, Bob would own The Big Picture, and so forth.

Then we clean the FUCK out of this place. Scorched earth, motherfuckers. I honestly don't understand why you're not already doing that. If this is YOUR site now, then make the community you WANT.

Do you promise to lead us back to the glory days of incendiary, cutting edge pieces such "Barbie is sexist: look at these six Amazon reviews (spoiler alert: I'm going to ignore the positive ones)"?

It's tricky to see how the site imploded when that sort of quality journalism was being offered! :)

Incidentally, I doubt you could give that Bob chap his Big Picture back, I believe he imploded in a cloud of pompous sanctimony live on a video and now just sits quivering in an ice cave, wracked with manufactured guilt that every film doesn't just have an all African, all refugee, all female cast siting in semi-darkness, mumbling in serbo-croat, as tears streak their faces, about the enduring sins of the West and how they must all atone.